Creed (2015)

Directed by Ryan Coogler and co-written by Aaron Covington, Creed (2015) is an American sports drama film that serves as the first spin-off in the Rocky franchise. Adonis ‘Donnie’ Johnson, the illegitimate son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, meets his father’s widow Mary Anne while serving time in a Los Angeles youth detention center in 1998. Despite her initial reluctance, she offers to take him in. Fast forward to 2015 and Adonis is training for an amateur boxing bout in Tijuana. After returning from the fight, he quits his job at Smith Boardley Financial Group to chase his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Adonis seeks opportunities at the renowned Delphi Boxing Academy managed by Tony ‘Little Duke’ Evers Jr., Apollo’s trainer’s son and family friend, but unfortunately gets rejected.

Adonis faces a tough blow when he loses a sparring match to heavyweight champ and #2-pound-for-pound Danny ‘The Stuntman’ Wheeler. He had openly challenged the entire gym, even betting his beloved 1967 Ford Mustang that no one could land a clean head shot on him. However, Mary Anne strongly opposes his dreams, haunted by the memory of her husband’s tragic death in the ring at the hands of Ivan Drago thirty years ago. Despite this setback, Adonis sets off for Philadelphia, hoping to reach out to his late father’s old rival-turned-friend, former heavyweight champ Rocky Balboa. Adonis meets Rocky at Adrian’s, Rocky’s Italian restaurant named after his late wife, and asks him to be his trainer. Rocky initially hesitates due to his history of brain trauma from his fighting days and having already made a comeback at an advanced age, but eventually agrees.